Benetton Family Gets Green Light to Develop Venice Palazzo

The family’s real estate holding, Edizione Property, has plans to open a luxury department store in the heart of the city.

BY THE LAGOON: The Benetton family’s real estate holding, Edizione Property, has plans to open a luxury department store in the heart of Venice. Following a five-year negotiation with the city’s municipality, the company received the green light to restructure the 18th-century Palazzo Fontego dei Tedeschi, a 101,507-square-foot building the Benetton family bought from the Italian postal service in 2008 for about 60 million euros, or $84 million at average exchange.

According to the company, the building’s renovation, assigned to Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, will cost about 18 million euros, or about $23 at current exchange.